This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Mobile platforms such as vehicles typically include one or more airbags that work in conjunction with one another and with other safety systems to absorb or otherwise dissipate energy associated with an impact event away from occupants of the mobile platform. For example, airbags may be located within a steering wheel, an instrument panel, a roof rail, and/or seat assemblies of a vehicle. The various airbags work in conjunction with one another and with other vehicle-safety systems such as cross-car beams, seatbelts, and pre-tensioning devices to properly manage energy associated with an impact event and to improve occupant safety.
While the foregoing components work in conjunction with one another and are often sequenced to perform at different times during an impact event, the various components are separate and, as such, are typically positioned at different locations within the vehicle. Further, while the foregoing components adequately protect vehicle occupants, many of the safety systems cannot be easily incorporated into non-automotive applications. For example, frontal airbags typically disposed within a steering wheel and/or an instrument panel of a vehicle and side-curtain airbags typically disposed within a roof rail or pillar of a vehicle cannot readily be incorporated into an aircraft application or other mobile platforms that don't include similar structure. As a result, airbags and related safety systems are typically application-specific and, therefore, must be specifically designed for the particular mobile platform (i.e., automotive vehicle, train, bus, aircraft, etc.) and associated structure.
Recently, however, airbags have been incorporated into seat structures and related components that are common to mobile platforms in an effort to utilize a common airbag across various mobile platforms and to provide an airbag at each seating location. Namely, airbags have recently been incorporated into seatbacks of mobile platforms and/or have been mechanically attached to the webbing of seatbelts at an outer surface thereof to allow the airbag to be used in a variety of mobile platforms without requiring mounting of the airbag in the surrounding structure of the particular mobile platform. Mounting an airbag in a seatback or on a seatbelt obviates the need to support the airbag in a surrounding structure of a mobile platform such as a steering wheel, instrument panel, or bulkhead and, further, allows the airbag to be used across various mobile platforms and at each seating location of the mobile platforms without regard to the surrounding structure.
Conventional airbag assemblies that are attached to the webbing of a seatbelt are typically movable from a pre-deployed state to an inflated state and are positioned relative to a vehicle occupant to absorb energy associated with a front impact event. For example, a seat assembly associated with an aircraft may incorporate a seatbelt having an inflatable portion that partially fills a void between an occupant and a seatback of another seat assembly located in front of the occupant. Positioning the inflatable portion in this void causes the occupant to load or contact the inflated airbag instead of the seatback or other surrounding structure. As such, the airbag serves to dissipate the energy associated with forward movement of the occupant caused by the aircraft experiencing a front-impact event.
While seatbelts incorporating inflatable portions absorb energy associated with front-impact events, such inflatable portions typically include a large volume to adequately fill the void between the occupant and the surrounding structure of the mobile platform. Accordingly, conventional seatbelts incorporating an inflatable portion are often bulky and require use of a large inflator to sufficiently and quickly move the inflatable portion from a pre-deployed state to an inflated state. Requiring use of a high-volume inflatable portion and associated large inflator adds to the overall cost, size, and weight of the overall assembly. As a result, the overall cost, size, and weight of the mobile platform is likewise increased.